And of course, he would be the first to admit that she would be perfectly justified.
He entered the bus slowly after the command to "come on in" had been shouted. The first person he locked eyes with when he got on the bus was Noah. Even a blind man wouldn't miss how Kaylee's brother tensed and the look of pure hatred in his eyes upon seeing Brandon.
"Hey," he said solemnly. "I, uh, want to apologize for last night. I froze. There's no other way to explain it." His explanation was fast and furious, tripping over words as he tried to get it out as quickly as possible.
"No, there
is
another way to explain it. You're a selfish pussy, plain and simple," Noah told him, a sharp edge in his voice. "You're lucky Ashton found her when he did, otherwise things could have been much worse."
"I know. I was awake all night thinking about how lucky we both were that Ashton came when he did." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Listen, I know you're upset with me now, but I hope that we can move past this and not let it interfere with my relationship with Kaylee, or with my article."
"If she even wantsa relationshipwith you anymore," Jayden entered his twocents.
"If my sister can forgive you, then we'll be civil. But if what you did scarred her in any way, you'll be off our tour so fast your head will spin. Not to mention you won't have a job anymore after we get through talking with your boss," Noah threatened.
"Understandable, I guess. Where is she? Can I see her?"
"Yeah, she's still in bed, head on back." Noah told him. After Brandon had walked back to the bunks, Noah smiled at Jayden and Colton. All three knew that she had slept in Ashton's bed last night, and Brandon was going to flip. It would serve him right, though, after his cowardice the night before.
Kaylee cuddled even closer to the warm body at her back. Even though she was still half asleep, there was something comforting about being in the spot that she was in, something reassuring. A small smile spread across her face, and she was enjoying the feeling of the moment.
Ashton groaned quietly. Kaylee had just rubbed against him as they were spooning, and he was having quite a reaction to her. He wrapped his arms around her tighter, hoping to hold her in place to keep her from moving anymore. He needed a chance to calm down before she woke up and freaked out about something poking her. Though he might have relished the thought of freaking her out like that twenty-four hours ago, right now it was the last thing he wanted to do.
As soon as his arms tightened, he heard a peaceful sigh come from Kaylee. He had been so worried about her the night before. Even after she was safe with him in his bed, he worried that she would relive the moment time after time in her sleep. He thought for sure she would be wracked with nightmares, but she seemed to have slept rather peacefully.
As Ashton was drifting back to sleep, the partition to his bunk opened up. There was a long moment of silence before the storm.
"What the hell are you doing?" Brandon yelled, when it finally registered that his girlfriend was sleeping with another man.
Kaylee shot up; her heart was racing. Just a minute ago, everything was quiet and calm, and now she felt like her heart was going to explode in her chest. Having just woken up, and in such a startling way, Kaylee was confused about what was happening. She looked at the man who had yelled and recognized Brandon. Slowly she looked behind her and saw Ashton.
Uh-oh
!
Ashton narrowed his eyes when he saw Brandon. "What gives you the right to open my bunk?" He didn't yell, because Kaylee had heard enough of that this morning, but he was stern and Brandon knew he meant business.
"My girlfriend is in here, and I want to know why." Brandon whined.
Ashton opened his mouth to deliver a smart remark, but Kaylee beat him to it. "Because he had the balls to take care of me. And because he was here to comfort me. Where were you when I needed you?" Kaylee suddenly turned from confused to angry as the memories flooded back.
Ashton put his hand on Kaylee's shoulder, and gave it a little push so that she laid back down. She went willingly, still glaring at Brandon. "I think you need to leave. Now. Before I get really mad and kick the living shit out of you," he told Brandon. There wasn't a hint of teasing in his voice; Ashton meant business. He wrapped his arms around Kaylee and ran his hand over her hair in a comforting gesture.
Kaylee closed her eyes again, letting the peaceful feeling return. "I'll talk to you later, Brandon. I need some time." Her voice held no emotion at all.
Brandon was about to say something else, but when Ashton's eyes shot him a warning look, he turned and left. His footsteps stomped through the bus, showing exactly how angry he was. Ashton didn't give a shit. He closed the partition again, and held Kaylee while she slipped off to sleep again.
The three guys sitting in the front room of the bus all laughed as Brandon left. He was sure heated that Kaylee was with Ashton at the moment, and he wasn't given a chance for explanations. They all thought he got what he deserved. Actually, he got less than he deserved, but at least it was something.
Later that day, Kaylee opened her eyes to see Ashton staring at her. Any other day, that would have made her cringe and wonder what he was going to pull next. But today, it was strangely comforting.
"Hi," she whispered.
"Hi. How're you feeling?" he asked softly.
"Like I was almost raped last night while my boyfriend watched and did nothing to help me." She softly touched her face at the spot where the man had hit her. She winced, as even the slightest touch sent her into a whole world of hurt. Her arms ached from where he had his grasp on her, and she was sure if she looked, there would be bruises in the shape of fingers. "But thank you for letting me sleep here last night. I don't think I would have made it through the night without you here."
"I know, you've just been dreaming of ways to get into my bed." Ashton teased. Kaylee tried to smile, but the cut on her lip split and she groaned in pain.
Ashton looked almost horrified, as if he had been the one to hurt her. "Sorry, I won't joke anymore."
"I should probably get up and face the day," Kaylee said, a little hesitant. The last thing she wanted to do was face the day.
Ashton understood, for the most part. "Hey, if you need me, just let me know."
"I will. Thanks." She rolled out of the bunk and went to her drawers to grab some clothes.
Ashton followed her out of the bunk. He stretched his arms over his head, trying to work out the kinks. He scratched his stomach and walked to the front room where the other guys were.
Kaylee looked up at him, and for the first time, she realized that he was wearing nothing but a thin pair of boxers. Her cheeks flushed, remembering how close they had been just a few minutes ago. Then, something hit her.
"Hey Ashton?" she asked, her voice shaking.
He turned, standing at the threshold between the front room and the hallway to the bunks. She picked her clothes up and walked over to him. "Thanks. For everything. You're my hero," she told him, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Then she did something that no one would ever have expected. She raised herself up on her tiptoes and softly, gently kissed his cheek.
Before Ashton could say anything, Kaylee disappeared into the bathroom. Instead, he looked to his band mates for answers.
"Man, the look on your face!" Colton laughed.
"I think we need to write this date down. This is the first time since Kaylee and Ashton met that they've gotten along," Jayden said in awe.
"I don't think I've ever seen the two of you that close without Kaylee's fists swinging," Noah said, joining in with the others, teasing Ashton.
They stopped their teasing as soon as the bathroom door opened up. The room went silent and all eyes went to Kaylee. Every man in the room felt something like a punch in the gut as they got a good look at her.
She put her hand to her face. "I know, it looks bad, huh?"
"It's a good thing Ashton nearly beat the man to death, because if he hadn't been so bad off, we all would have wanted to get a piece of him," Jayden said, and got up to hug Kaylee.
"You're still beautiful, Kaylee," Colton her, and hugged her when Jayden let her go.
"Yeah right, but thanks for trying." Kaylee had been shocked when she looked in the mirror. The whole right side of her face was black and blue from where that creep had backhanded her. She also had a huge knot on the back of her head from where he had slammed her head against the wall, not to mention the bruises that covered the rest of her body.
She sat next to her brother on the couch, and he put his arm around her. He took a deep breath. "Hey kid, I know this isn't what you want to do, but you need to go to the police station to give your statement, and they're going to take some pictures."
"I don't mind talking to the cops, but can't they come here? I don't want to walk into the police station, and feel like I've done something wrong." No matter what, anytime she stepped into a police station, she felt like they were going to accuse her of doing something wrong
"I'll give them a call, and have them come right over. I don't see why they can't come here - I'm sure they will understand. We'll get it done as soon as possible. Hopefully you'll be able to move on after all this." Noah flipped open his cell phone and dialed the numbers from the card he held in his hand.
Ashton went to get dressed, knowing that it wouldn't be a good thing to greet the police in his boxers. He wanted to make sure that he was around, just in case talking about what happened got hard for Kaylee. He had to be there for her, no matter what. It didn't even cross his mind that he might get into trouble for beating the man so severely.
The police showed up half an hour later and took Kaylee's statement. They showed her a bunch of pictures, and she easily identified her attacker. Turns out he had a long history of violence, and she wasn't the first woman he had tried to violate. A female officer took her into the lounge in the back of the bus and took pictures of all her bruises.
Back in the front of the bus, the male officer was asking a few questions about the attack on the man. "Who found Ms. Miles?" he asked.
Ashton spoke up, ready to face whatever wrath was thrown at him. It was worth it to save Kaylee. "I found them. Her boyfriend had been there watching the whole time and didn't do anything to stop him. The man had a knife and threatened to use it on Brandon and he got scared."
"So then you stopped the man?" the cop asked Ashton.
"Yes. I did what I had to do to make Kaylee safe." He raised his chin up in pride, ready to face the punishment for what he did.
"Well, unofficially, I want to shake your hand. Officially, no one knows who beat that man to within inches of his life. He's a dirt bag, and deserves everything you gave him." The officer held out his hand to Ashton.
At first Ashton was confused. He wasn't sure if he was in trouble or not. He shook the officer's hand, giving him a questioning look.
"All I got out of the interview is that some man beat the attacker while you rescued Kaylee. No one knows who the other man was, and he disappeared before anyone could catch him."
Ashton finally got it. The officer was letting him off. No charges were going to be brought against him.
"Thank you officer. That's exactly how I remember it," Ashton said, and a look of relief washed over his face.
"That's what I saw too," Jayden confirmed, even as he remembered the look in Ashton's eyes as he struggled to pull him off the man. It was a look that confused Jayden, since Ashton and Kaylee fought all the time, but Ashton was ready to kill. As much as Jayden loved Kaylee, he didn't think even he would go as far as Ashton had.
Kaylee came back into the room, the female officer trailing behind her holding three different cameras; a Polaroid, a digital, and a regular one. She explained that they needed the different forms in case anyone were to question the legitimacy of the pictures.
A few tears were falling from Kaylee's eyes, and Ashton was immediately at her side, comforting her. He imagined that the session with the police had been really hard. Though he would never completely understand how she felt, he could imagine how violated she was feeling. She had to go through what the man did to her, and then she had to go through those photographs and telling her story. No matter how polite and kind the police were, it had to feel like a whole new violation for her.
He couldn't fathom how any man could treat a woman that way. Sure, he was really into sex, and there were times when he got extremely horny, but he would never force a woman just so he could get some pleasure. He made sure that each woman that he was with was completely consenting to what they were about to do, because he never wanted to feel like he had taken advantage of someone.
And how could a woman begging a man to stop be a turn-on? He preferred his women to be saying yes, screaming yes, their eyes rolling back in pleasure. The sight of a woman crying and saying no just didn't get the juices moving for him. In fact, it made him sick.
The police finally left the bus, thanking everyone for their cooperation. The female officer gave Ashton a knowing look and nodded her approval. They wished Kaylee well, and told her to call if she needed anything.
When the cops were gone, the group sat around silently. No one knew what to say, and the air was tense and stifling.
"I've got to get out of here," Kaylee finally said, jumping up. "I'm going for a walk."
"I'll come with you," Ashton offered quickly.
Kaylee looked at him with sad eyes. He was trying so hard, and she sincerely appreciated it. "No, thanks Ashton. I just need some time to myself."
The men exchanged glances. She quickly saw that no one was going to let her walk alone, and she sighed. "Look, see that picnic table over there?" She pointed out the window to an old table 100 feet away. "I'm just going to go out there and sit. You guys can watch me from here," she said, and walked out the door before anyone could say anything.